Senior managers and technical staff from the Ministry of Health and Funds Coordination Unit of Global Fund grants recently gathered together a range of stakeholders for a risk management workshop at the Lake Victoria Serena. 

The risk management workshop served to refresh the minds of the participants about the fundamentals of the Global Fund Risk Management Framework.  It also offered among others updates on the implementation of the Risk Management processes.

Speaking at the event, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine highlighted the value of effective planning as a key part of risk management. 

“I hope that our team will pick specific risks and ensure that they’re mitigated. Let’s now focus mainly on mitigation, “she said.

“When we start the planning process, we must begin by being clear about what we want to achieve. For instance, realizing value for money begins at the planning level by asking whether the planned investments, such as equipment, is going to create an impact.”

Speaking at the same event, Mr. Ben Muhigo, a consultant reminded the meeting about the mandate of the Global Fund and he underscored the value of good leadership and management towards effective risk management.

Most of the participants at the meeting were directly involved in the Global Fund program implementation and they were encouraged by Mr Muhigo encouraged them to appreciate that there are no programs without challenges. 

The consultant engaged participants in an interactive discussion about the risk management process and he reiterated the importance of identifying, assessing, responding, managing, communicating and monitoring risks among others.

Speaking at the work shop held from October 17-19, the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr Atwine, highlighted the importance of considering qualitative planning instead of simply dwelling on quantitative planning to ensure quality service delivery.  

She also highlighted the need to consider effective monitoring and evaluation that factors in the implementation process. “If we don’t assess ourselves internally on the implementation performance, then there is a risk,” she said.